The design methods of mechanical systems are largely classified into deterministic methods and stochastic methods. In deterministic methods, design parameters are assumed to have fixed values. On the other hand, in stochastic methods, design parameters are assumed to be statistically distributed. When a stochastic method is employed, statistical characteristics of the populations of design variables are assumed to be known. However, very often, it is almost impossible or very expensive to obtain the statistical characteristics of the populations. Therefore a sample survey method is usually employed for stochastic methods. This paper describes the procedure of estimating the statistical characteristics of populations by employing sample data sets. An example of AFM micro cantilever beam is employed to show the effectiveness of the procedure.